I am going to inject a note of caution. What you think you need now may Not be what you need in the future. The Progressive Dynamics PD 4000 power center has 12 12V circuits, and I am using them all. OK there is a bunch of stuff, and things sneak up on you that you didn't think about i.e. I installed a Sirius dock for the stereo and yes I could have tapped in the power to the stereo supply with a 5A fuse but getting to it would have required removing three panels in the gallery to gain access.

Please excuse my digression. When in Philly a while back and as we were sitting on the upper deck of he tour bus I remarked to my wife that the weather was "POI-FECT as Curly Joe would say". Later a tour guide pointed out that Larry Fine was from Philly. Suzy then asked: "Is he the one that played Curly Joe?". You gotta love her!

I like the dc plan. It fits with KISS.

Cheers,

Gus

The opinions in this post are my own. My comments are directed to those that might like an alternative approach to those already espoused.There is the right way,the wrong way,the USMC way, your way, my way, and the highway."I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it." Klaatu-"The Day the Earth Stood Still""You can't handle the truth!"-Jack Nicholson "A Few Good Men""Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. The Marines don't have that problem"-Ronald Reagan

Okay, I've been thrashing around in "Electrical Secrets" and this thread for a few weeks, trying to get ready to wire my Tear. DC, AC, an Inverter, and also charging from the vehicle battery.

We're going to have DC LED lights, and a Vent Fan -- maybe 35 Amp Hours a day Max, usually less. Also several 110 outlets for laptops for watching DVDs on rainy nights, a radio/ipod deck, and a coffee grinder and 850 watt toaster for 5 minutes a day. The 110 adds about 40 Amp hours Max. Based on the toaster, we'll be looking at least at a 1000 watt Inverter. We'll often be without shore power, and on those nights we'll skip the toast, and run the laptops off of their batteries to conserve power.

I think I've found wiring diagrams here http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=33719 that will work for me, but I am unclear how to include a battery charger (I have a Deltran Tender Plus) in the diagram.

Or maybe I'm better off getting a Inverter/Charger combo? Seems like that will simplify the wiring setup, take up less space, and make the transition of connecting / disconnecting to shore power simpler and more automated(fewer steps for me -- and spouse-- to remember), although there also is a BIG jump in price for a quality (good features, quiet fan, low battery usage when not really inverting) inverter/charger over the price of an inverter.

So... Opinions? Inverter? Inverter/Charger? If it's an Inverter and separate charger is there a wiring diagram around for that? (I haven't found it yet.)

Most products that should be used on an inverter are also available to work on DC i.e. fan. For the most part you should not be using anything that uses resistant heat i.e a coffee pot or small heater as they suck amps big time. I have a Morningstar Sursine 300W inverter to power TV (23W) and a couple of other small loads including the battery charger for small batteries. For my set up the inverter plugs into the battery (6ga cable) and AC wires go back to a DPDT switch that switch between shore power to the AC breakers in the Progressive Dynamics power center. I am a strong believer is having separate sources for what ever application i.e. I have a separate printer and a scanner and if one fails it is less expensive to replace the part that failed. and they are both better quality than the combined units. What is th standby power draw from a combined converter/inverter (you are powering the inverter).

, G'day Joanne,Those schematics are just great. There's only one thing I'd add and that's some form of protection between the alternator output terminal (B+) and the solenoid or in the line from the solenoid to the trailer. As an auto sparkie I've seen a few people who didn't protect the line to the trailer somewhere and ended up with a real mess under the hood of their tow vehicle and elsewhere. Although I no longer work in the trade I'll shortly be doing this mod to my own tow vehicle and will be fitting a circuit breaker or fusible link under the hood to protect the wiring to the trailer and as that wiring will be running alongside the rear harness in the wagon I want to protect the vehicle harness from getting burnt if the trailer main positve wire shorts out somewhere in the car.

Shadow Catcher wrote:Most products that should be used on an inverter are also available to work on DC i.e. fan. For the most part you should not be using anything that uses resistant heat i.e a coffee pot or small heater as they suck amps big time. I have a Morningstar Sursine 300W inverter to power TV (23W) and a couple of other small loads including the battery charger for small batteries. For my set up the inverter plugs into the battery (6ga cable) and AC wires go back to a DPDT switch that switch between shore power to the AC breakers in the Progressive Dynamics power center. I am a strong believer is having separate sources for what ever application i.e. I have a separate printer and a scanner and if one fails it is less expensive to replace the part that failed. and they are both better quality than the combined units. What is the standby power draw from a combined converter/inverter (you are powering the inverter).

I realize this is an older post, but I think I may want an inverter for the same reasons you stated. I have a 19" LCD TV that I will eventually want to run off of an inverter. My thought was to mount the inverter on the wall (cargo trailer) near the TV. When I use the inverter I would just unplug the TV from the 110v wall outlet and plug it into the inverter. So my question is how should I prewire for the eventual inverter installation? My original plan was to mount a 12v dc outlet near where the inverter will be mounted. I have some heavy duty Marinco outlets. I gather from what you used this may not be sufficient. Thoughts?

I plan to have two batteries. one running right side one running the left. They will be in parallel and if one goes out the other can power both sides.

Your diagram is very interesting.

Now a days we have LED's so that will save on power.

What I did wonder is the Clearance lights have one wire and the make thinks it is going to be attached to the metal frame. How do you ground these on a wood trailer, where the ones on top must be connected to a ground wire.

Ron Dickey wrote:I plan to have two batteries. one running right side one running the left. They will be in parallel

One small suggestion ... the way the batteries in parallel in your diagram is wired, it has the potential to work one battery harder than the other. To fix, wire like this ...

... it's a small detail, but may improve battery life in the long run.

CorwinIf I am unwilling to stand up straight before the world and admit what I have accomplished during the day, without excuses, in complete and honest detail, then I can do better ...and no one should be expected to accept anything less. -- myself

I realy think omitting shore power all together would be a mistake.If you ever had guests over at home and no other option you could house them in comfort in the TD and with super early risers like my mother she could read the paper in the morning sun after a comfortable nights sleep due to heating or cooling all supplied by shore power while your charging batteries at the same time I wouldn't over look it even if you don't think you'll need it, would be bloody ugly to add as an afterthought

dales133 wrote:I realy think omitting shore power all together would be a mistake.If you ever had guests over at home and no other option you could house them in comfort in the TD and with super early risers like my mother she could read the paper in the morning sun after a comfortable nights sleep due to heating or cooling all supplied by shore power while your charging batteries at the same time I wouldn't over look it even if you don't think you'll need it, would be bloody ugly to add as an afterthought

We don't have shore power in our 'drop and don't regret it. We don't need A/C fortunetly, and avoid the crowds and camp in the boondocks. Things would be different if I lived somewhere else. When I built my sister's teardrop, one challenge was that she uses a CPAP machine. I planned the electrical the system around 12v since they too like to camp in the sticks. (and it worked). But just in case, I stuck one of these in:

A regulator on the TD or CT battery? Only if you count the regulator that is built into a 120 VAC battery charger or a solar charge controller. I don't see any purpose other than those, unless I misunderstand the concern. Inverters have built in low voltage alarms and the good ones a built in low voltage disconnect to protect the inverter.

Last edited by MtnDon on Mon Feb 23, 2015 5:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Da'engineer wrote:Does anyone use a voltage regulator for their trailer coming off the battery since fully charged battery goes above 12v and goes below 12v when under charged?

Nope. As usual, Don's on the money with his electrical advice. All my stuff works just fine from 12Vto 14V. I know there are some LED bulbs that have a tolerance. Mine are good to 17V I think. (And any thing below 12V is walking the line of hurting your battery of course.)